Movie Review
Siddharth Martis
3.5 / 5
The Secret Life of Pets is a film directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney and is written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, and Brian Lynch. It stars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Keven Hart, and Albert Brooks, along with Dana Carvey and Hannibal Buress.
This paid off substantially as The Secret Life of Pets proved to be a surprisingly energetic family diversion that is as involving as it is well animated. Sure, it doesn’t boast much character development, and isn’t terribly consistent with its laughs or sentiment, but it is ambitious enough to peruse a farcical plotline and showcases its charm at every turn with its slightly morbid, low-brow humor.
Though this brand of humor proved to be very hit or miss, with that said, when it hits, it hits hard. Quite possibly the funniest scene in the film was one that featured a half blind viper. It was finely tuned, very well scripted, and perfectly timed. On the other hand, when the comedy misses, it tumbles. Close to all the misses in the film are attributed to every scene that Jenny Slate’s obnoxious, Gidget is present.
Painfully shallow and far from cute or funny, Gidget feels an awful lot like the reason for the film’s predictability. Her abysmal role in the film is somewhat numbed out by the remarkable ensemble cast that more than compensates for her pitfalls, making for a wholly entertaining, if deeply flawed, film.
Set in a Manhattan apartment building, after the two-legged residents head for work and school, their pets gather to start their day, which consists of hanging out, trading humiliating stories about their owners, and helping each other work up adorable looks that will lead to more snacks. The head hound is a quick-witted terrier rescue (voiced by Louis C.K.), whose position at the epicenter of his master’s universe is suddenly threatened when she comes home with Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet), a sloppy mongrel with no polish. The two soon find themselves on the mean streets of New York, where they meet the adorable white bunny Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart). It turns out that Snowball is the leader of an army of pets that were abandoned and are determined to get back at humanity and every owner-loving pet. The dogs must thwart this plot and make it back in time for dinner.In a year that featured both breath-taking feats in animation, such as Finding Dory and Zootopia, and cringe-worthy depths in animation, such as Norm of the North, arises a film that I had no excitement or anticipation for, whatsoever. The trailers just weren’t appealing and the posters looked so extravagant that it convinced me the film was going to be immensely shallow minded. Still, I went into The Secret Life of Pets with an open mind, as I had already been proven wrong once this year with Zootopia.
This paid off substantially as The Secret Life of Pets proved to be a surprisingly energetic family diversion that is as involving as it is well animated. Sure, it doesn’t boast much character development, and isn’t terribly consistent with its laughs or sentiment, but it is ambitious enough to peruse a farcical plotline and showcases its charm at every turn with its slightly morbid, low-brow humor.
Though this brand of humor proved to be very hit or miss, with that said, when it hits, it hits hard. Quite possibly the funniest scene in the film was one that featured a half blind viper. It was finely tuned, very well scripted, and perfectly timed. On the other hand, when the comedy misses, it tumbles. Close to all the misses in the film are attributed to every scene that Jenny Slate’s obnoxious, Gidget is present.
Painfully shallow and far from cute or funny, Gidget feels an awful lot like the reason for the film’s predictability. Her abysmal role in the film is somewhat numbed out by the remarkable ensemble cast that more than compensates for her pitfalls, making for a wholly entertaining, if deeply flawed, film.